Happiness springs at spring training

PHOENIX - I'm not a huge baseball fan, but I enjoy being around people who are - especially during spring training.

Because at spring training, the fans are almost always happy.

In fact, even in these gloomy times there probably is no more unshakably cheerful group of people in America than those who come to this desert city to watch their beloved Angels (or Dodgers or Padres or whatever) ramp up for the regular season.

I had a chance to witness this first hand last week when I went to a spring training game between the Angels and the L.A. Dodgers at Tempe Diablo Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe. The weather was warm, the sky was blue and the air was full of promise, with every team at least theoretically having a shot at a championship season in the months to come.

It was, in short, a happiness fest.

For those who aren't familiar with them, spring training games have a much different feel than regular-season games.

The stadiums are a lot smaller, for one thing. (A dozen major league teams hold spring training at nine stadiums in the Phoenix area.) Tempe Diablo Stadium, the Angels' spring training home field, has a capacity of just 9,800, as opposed to 45,000 at Angel Stadium in Anaheim. Even in the cheap seats - seats go for as little as $10, or you can sit on the lawn for just six bucks -- you feel a lot closer to the game, and to the players.

And the spectators are different, too. It's one thing for people in Orange County to drive 10 or 15 miles to Anaheim to watch an Angels game. It's quite another to drive or fly 400 miles and stay in a motel or camp out with friends to watch the Angels play.

People who do that are true fans. And for them, it's the best time of the year.

"I've been coming out here for almost 20 years," said Mike Scheafer, 55, of Costa Mesa, who was at the Angels-Dodgers game with his wife, Sandi. "It's nice to relax, enjoy the sunshine and watch the game."

"It's a family tradition," said Gary Hascup of Laguna Niguel, who was there with his wife, Connie, and their 11-year-old son, Michael. Technically, Michael was supposed to be back home in school, but his mom said she had "called him in 'baseball sick' " - this on the theory that a couple of days at spring training is more educationally productive for a young man than a couple of days in class. It's a theory with which I -- not to mention Michael -- heartily agree.

"The best thing is you get all the players' autographs on your shirt; the players are really nice," said 7-year-old Brian Beach of Yorba Linda, who was there with his dad, Steve, and his mom, Renee. At spring training a couple years ago, Brian even got to play a little catch with Chone Figgins.

Like I said, it's a happiness fest.

Of course, it can't last. Once the regular season begins and the games start to count, there will inevitably be controversies and disappointments and, for most baseball fans, broken hearts as their teams fall behind.

But at spring training the future seems limitless. And for Angels fans, the game last week against the Dodgers couldn't have had a happier outcome.

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